More Ontarians become eligible for an earlier second dose of COVID-19 vaccine this week.
Starting at 8 a.m. Monday morning, any Ontarians who received their first dose of an mRNA vaccine (Pfizer of Moderna) on or before May 9 can book their second shots through the province’s booking system.
The province is also accelerating second shot appointments on Wednesday, June 23, for anyone 18 and older that received a first dose of an mRNA vaccine on or before May 30 living in any of the following 10 Delta variant hotspot regions:
- Toronto
- Peel Region
- Halton
- York
- Durham
- Hamilton
- Porcupine
- Waterloo
- Wellington-Dufferin
- Simcoe-Muskoka
The province says that starting sometime next week, it plans to allow all adults who received a first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna’s product to book a second appointment as soon as 28 days after their initial shot.
Ontario sped up second dose appointments for Delta variant hotspots last Monday, allowing adults that received the first shot of an mRNA vaccine on or before May 9 to book for a second dose.
Residents flooded the province’s online booking portal last week in hopes of securing a second dose and many expressed frustration at their inability to book due to the soaring demand.
As of June 12, individuals who received their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine are able to get their second dose in eight weeks rather than 12 weeks.
Those who got AstraZeneca as a first dose have the option of getting a second dose of the same vaccine or an mRNA vaccine, either Pfizer or Moderna.
Toronto officials say they were informed over the weekend that 162,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine would be delayed this week. In order to continue with appointments already booked at city-run clinics over the next few weeks, Toronto Public Health says it will increase the administration of Moderna vaccines.
Peel Public Health also says the Moderna vaccine will be administered in its clinics until at least June 24. In the meantime, both regions will use their remaining Pfizer supply for residents aged 12 to 17.
Public health officials continue to stress that both Pfizer and Moderna are interchangeable and there is “no important difference” between the two.
After four days of setting new single-day highs for vaccine’s administered, the province reported 184,251 doses were given on Saturday.
A total of 12.5 million first doses have now been administered across the province, meaning at least 75 per cent of Ontarians have received at least one shot. More than 2.87 million people having been fully vaccinated with two doses, just over 22 per cent.
Both those numbers have exceeded the threshold set by the province to move into Step 2 of its Roadmap to Reopen, however, there’s no word yet from provincial officials if they plan to move up to timetable ahead of July 2.
